Terminal



Dec. 25, 1962 B. E. oLssoN ETAL 3,070,772

TERMINAL Filed Aug. 31. 1959 ze 4 W 30 34 30; 'f/

ILM/ E: OLsso/J ALEX Jus'r ATTO/ZA/E-YS.

United States Patent Ofice 3,070,772 Patented Dec. 25, 1962 3,070,772TERMENAL Biliy E. Olssen, Chicago, and Alex Just, River Forest, Ill.,assignors, by mesne assignments, of fifty percent to Maico ManufacturingCompany, Chicago, Ill., a partnership, and fifty percent toAmphenol-Borg Electronics Corporation, Broadview, Ill., a corporation ofDela- Ware Fired Aug. si, 1959, ser. Ne. 837,160 a claims. (el. 339-278)The present invention relates to electrical terminals and, moreparticularly, to a male blade terminal adapted to mate with a femaleterminal.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedblade-type terminal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved blade terminal that provides good electrical connection with afemale connector, even though the male and female terminals are slightlymisaligned.

It is yet another object of the present invention provide a male bladeterminal that is so constructed that when the male terminal mates with amisaligned female terminal, permanent deformation of the female terminaldoes not result.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bladeterminal that is adapted to be readily inserted between the tines of afork-type female terminal, whereby good electrical connection is madebetween the opposite sides of the blade terminal and the respectivetines of the fork-type female terminal, irrespective of misalignment ofthe male and/or female terminals.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a blade-typeterminal embodying double-beveled opposite surfaces for permittingslight -misalignment between the male and a female terminal withoutpermanently deforming the female terminal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a blade-typeterminal that exhibits characteristics similar to a round pin terminalin the sense that the -tines of a fork-type terminal are uniformlyspaced apart by the blade-type terminal irrespective of relativemisalignment v of the terminals.

The above and other objects are realized in accordance with the presentinvention by providing a new and improved male terminal of theblade-type that is particularly suited to mate with a fork-type femaleterminal having spaced-apart tines. The female terminal is also of theblade-type and, accordingly, when mated with the male terminal is 90degrees related to the male terminal. Although not necessary, the femaleterminal preferably embodies at the end of its tines inwardly extendingcontact portions which specifically engage the opposite contactingsurfaces of the male terminal. In accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention, the male, blade-type terminal is so constructed thatits opposite contacting surfaces engage the tines of a ymisalignedfemale terminal without permanently distorting the tines of theterminal. In contrast to existing male terminals wherein a misalignmentbetween a male and a female terminal effects a permanent setting ordeformation of a female terminal, the contacting sides of the maleterminal are configured to be received by a misaligned female terminalwithout permanently distoring either of the terminals. Furthermore, agood electrical connection is provided between the contacting sides ofthe male terminal and the tine's of the female terminal when theterminals are within a relatively wide range of their normal 90 degreeorientation.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,.taken with further objects and advaantages thereof, -will best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a male terminal assembly embodying thefeatures of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional View of a male Iterminal embodied in the maleterminal assembly of FIG. l shown in position to engage a femaleterminal of a female terminal assembly;

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2, illustrating the male and femaleterminals 9() degrees displaced from their positions illustrated in FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary, sectional view taken along line 4 4of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, perspective view, illustrating the terminals ofFIG. 2 in mated relation;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a View similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the positions of afemale terminal and a misaligned male terminal;

FIG. 8 is a View similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the relative positionsof a misaligned male -ter-minal and a misaligned female terminal; and

FIG. 9 is a View similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the deformation of afemale terminal resulting from a prior art male terminal.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIG. l, a terminalassembly or connector embodying the features of the present invention isillustrated and is identitied generally by reference numeral 10. Theterminal assembly 1t) embodies a plurality of spatially arranged maleterminals 12, only a few of which are illustrated. The male terminalassembly 10 is adapted to mate with a female terminal assembly, shownfragmentarily in FIGS. 2 and 3 and identified generally by referencenumeral 11. The female terminal assembly 11, similar to the maleassembly 10, embodies a plurality of spatially arranged femaleterminals, only one of which is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 andidentied by reference numeral 14. The male terminals 12 and femaleterminals 14 are so spaced on their respective blocks 16 and 26 thatincident to mating of the male and female terminal assemblies 10 and 11,oppositely related terminals 112 and 14 register and engage one another.As described in greater detail hereinafter, the terminals 12 and 14 aredetachably connected to one another to permit facile engagement anddisengagement of the terminal assemblies 10 and 11. In use, the freeends of the male and female terminals 12 and 14 are respectivelyconnected to suitable electrical leads, for example, conductors andleads of electrical components, with the result that a plurality ofsolderless electrical connections are obtained between pairs of theelectrical leads through the male and female terminal assemblies 10 and11.

The male terminal assembly 10' specifically comprises a generallyrectangular block 16 made of aluminum, for example, and is provided withtwo parallel rows of spacedapart openings 18 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) foraccommodating, respectively, a plurality of bushings 20. Although onlytwo rows are illustrated, it will be appreciated that the block 16 mayhave any number fof rows of openings 18 Iin accordance with therequirements of the particular installation. Each bushing 20 is made ofsuitable insulating material and includes a longitudinally extendingbore 22 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) for respectively accommodating the maleterminal 12. The bushing 20, made of suitable insulating and somewhatresilient material, extends through the support 16 and terminatesslightly beyond the opposite sides `of the support 16 as clearly shownin FIGS. 2 and 3. By this construction, the bushing 20 spaces andinsulates the terminal 12 from the support 16. The connector part orhead 24 of the terminal 12, hows ever, extends beyond the left end ofthe bushing 20- to coact with the female terminal `14 as describedbelow. The male terminal 12 and the insulating bushing 20 are mountedand secured to the block 16 in accordance with an appropriate method,for example, the method described and illustrated in the lust et al.Patent No. 2,995,617 entitled Self-Locking Terminal, and ass-igned tothe same assignee as the present application.

The female terminal assembly 11, shown only fragmentarily in FIG. 2,likewise includes a generally rectangular block 2o made from aluminum,for example, and is provided with two rows of openings 2S (only one ofwhich is shown in FEGS. 2 and 3) for respectively accommodating aplurality of insulating bushings 36B. Similar to the block i6, `:theblock 26 alternatively may have any number of rows of openings 28. Thebushings 33t) and terminals 14 are also mounted and secu-red to theblock in accordance with the method disclosed in the above-identifiedpatent. Each bushing Sti, similar to the bushing 2li, is made ofsuitable insulating and somewhat resilient material and includes anaxially extending bore 32 for accommodating the female terminal 14. Thebushing Si) has a block engaging portion a extending through the block26 for spacing and insulating the terminal 14 from the block 26, andalso has, in contrast to the bushings 29, a shielding portion Elibextending to the right of the block 2e to substantially surround theconnector part or head 34 of the female terminal 14. Accordingly, whenthe male terminal assembly lil and the female terminal assembly l1 arein mated position, oppositely related bushings 20 and 3i? abut oneanother to entirely surround the connector parts 24 and 34 of theterminals 12 and 14, thereby to isolate the connector parts 24 and 34from foreign matter, dust and the like.

As best seen in flGS. 2 and 3, the male terminal 12 embodying thefeatures of the present invention and the female terminal 14 areidentically constructed, with the exception of the connector parts 24and 34. Considering first the detailed construction of the terminal 12,it is formed by stamping or the like, from any relatively hard metallicsubstance having good electrical conductive characteristics, forexample, brass or the like. The terminal 12 includes a wire-wrap shank40 of generally rectangular cross section having relatively sharpcorners about which wiring leads (not shown) are tightly wrapped to forma permanent electrical connection between the leads and the terminal 12.The bottom end 40a of the wire-wrap shank 4t) is beveled as indicated at40a to facilitate entrance of the terminal 12 into suitable automaticwire wrapping machinery (not shown). The wire-wrap shank is integrallyconnected to an enlarged gripping shank 42 by a pair of inclinedshoulders 44 (see FIG. 3). During the mounting of the terminal 12 andthe bushing 20 to the support 16, the gripping shank 42 functions toexpand the bushing 20 into frictional engagement with the opening 18 ofthe block 16, thereby providing a good frictional connection between thegripping portion 42 and the'bushing 2t) and between the bushing 20 andthe block 16. The gripping shank 42 is of generally rectangular crosssection but, in contrast to the wire-wrap shank 40, the edges of thegripping shank 42 are beveled (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 5). The left end ofthe gripping shank 42 includes a pair of locking notches 46 which extendinwardly to accommodate portions of the bushing 20 that are compresseddur-ing mounting of the terminal 12. To properly position the terminal12 relative to the bushing 20, a pair of outwardly extending ilanges 48are located intermediate the locking notches 46 and the connector part24, which anges 48 coact with the left end of the bushing 20, as viewedin FIGS. 2 and 3. As described in detail below, the connector part 24comprises a generally blade-like structure that is coplanar with thegripping shank 42 and the wire-wrap shank 40. The female terminal 14,similar to the male terminal 12, :is formed by stamping or the like,from any relatively hard metallic substance having good electricalconductive characteristics, for example, a Phosphor bronze alloy.

As stated above, the female terminal 14 is identically constructed tothe male terminal 12, with the exception of the connector parts 24 and34 and, accordingly, the terminal pin 14 likewise embodies a wire-wrapshank 50 and a gripping shank 52. Similar to the terminal 12, lockingnotches 5e are located adjacent the end of the gripping portion :T2 forthe purpose of accommodating compressed portions of the insulatingbushing 30. However, in contrast with the terminal 12, outwardlyextending vanges 48 are not provided but, instead the right end of theterminal `14 terminates in a flat, fork-type connector part 34 thatreceives lthe blade connector part '2.4. y

More specifically, the fork-type connector part 34 comprises a pair ofspaced-apart tines 58 interconnected by a web portion 6G, the tines 53having generally rectangular cross sections. The tines 58 are generallyelongated and, since the terminal 14 is constructed from Phosphorbronze, the tines 5S are somewhat resilient, i.e., they are capable oflimited relative planar movement toward and away from one another. Toassure good electrical con nection between the fork-type connector part34 and the blade `connector part 24, semi-cylindrical Contact portions62 extend inwardly to coact with opposite longitudinal surfaces of theblade connector par-t 24, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. By thissemi-cylindrical structure, a good electrical connection between thecontact portions 62 and the blade connector part 24 is assured. Inaddition, since the t-ines 5S are somewhat resilient, the contactportions 62 move apart to accommodate the blade connector part 24 of theterminal 12 as it mates with forktype connector part 34 and,furthermore, when the blade connector part 24 and the fork-typeconnector part 34 are mated, the resiliency of the tines 5? urges thecontact portions 62 toward the opposite sides ofthe blade connector part24 to provide a good pressure contact between the connector parts 24 and34. Thus, irrespective of variations in the dimensions of the connectorpant 24 caused by commercially acceptable tolerances, a good electricalconnection between the male and female terminals 12 and 14 is assured.

It will be appreciated from viewing FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 that terminals 12and y14 must be 90 related to one another in order that their connectorparts 24 and 34 mate. Although the male and female terminals 12 and 14are accurately mounted on the supporting blocks 16 and 26, respectively,the terminals 12 and 14 are infrequently mounted in other than the`desired position so that the `connector parts 24 and 34 are not 90related to one another. It has been observed that exceptionally slightmisal-ignment of existing or prior art male and female terminals doesnot subsequently render the male and female terminals 12 and 14inoperative. However, when the misalignment exceeds a relatively slightamount, for example, three degrees, the misaligned prior art terminalscause the material of the tines 58 to be deformed beyond its elasticlimit. Consequently, a permanent setting or deformation of the tines isobtained, with the result that thereafter a lower retentive force isproduced by the tines, and, hence the connector part. For example, theretentive force developed by the female terminal after mating with amisaligned male terminal is reduced to approximately fifty percent ofthe retentive force developed by the female terminal after mating with aproperly aligned male terminal. Thus, a substantially reduced pressurecontact is obtained between the male and female terminals and, hence, apoor electrical connection results.

In order to obviate the above-described disadvantages of the prior artterminals, the blade connector part 24 of the male terminal 12 isconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.Accordingly, terminals 12 and 14 can be misaligned over a relativelywide range but can be readily mated without permanently deforming thetines 58 and reducing the retentive force of the female terminal 14.Specifically, and referring primarily to FIGS. 1 and 5, the connectorpart 24, as indicated above, comprises a generally blade-likeconstruction and includes a pair of spaced-apart contacting orlongitudinal sides 70 and 71 respectively interconnected by a pair offiat, laterally extending sides 72 and 73. The sides 70, 71, 72 and 73terminate in an end 74 having beveled corners 75 to facilitate entry ofthe blade connector pant 24 into a female terminal having a constructiondifferent than the one described above. In accordance wi-th the featuresof the present invention, the contacting or longitudinal sides 70 and 71are nonplanar in construction so that irrespective of the misalignmentof the terminals i12 and 14 `the contacting sides 70 and 71 coact withthe Contact portions 62 Without permanently deforming the tines 58'.

More particularly, each of the contacting sides 70 and 71 is identicalin construction and, thus, only the contacting side 70 will bedescribed. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the contacting side 70 isgenerally peaked outwardly, and is formed by removing or cutting awayportions of the terminal, thereby defining a pair of generallytriangular shoulders 76 and 77. Speciiically, the contacting side 70includes a pair of fiat surfaces 78 and 80' which extend from the edgesof the lateral at sides 72 and 73. These surfaces 78 and 80 convergetoward one another but do not intersect in planar fashion since thecenter portion of the contacting side 70 indicated by reference numeral82, is rounded throughout a relatively small angle of twelve degrees.Thus, the contacting side 70 comprises a pair of converging surfaces 78and 80 which are interconnected by a rounded or cylindrical surface 82,the surfaces '78, 8@ and 82 providing a continuous and uninterruptedsurface. It will be appreciated that by virtue of the divergingconstruction of the surfaces 78 and S0 the tines 5S of the fork-typeconnector part 34 are not unduly `spread even though a slightmisalignment exists between the male and female terminals 12 and 14.

Since the side 71 is identically constructed to the above described side7i), the structure embodied in the side 71 is identified by the samereference numerals as the corresponding structure in side 70. As shownin FIGS. 1 and 5, the fo-rward ends of the contacting surfaces 70 and 71are beveled as indicated at 83 to facilitate the disposition of theblade connector part 24 between the contact portions 62 of the fork-typeconnector part 34.

If 4the terminals 12 and 14 are exactly 90` degrees related to oneanother, the blade connector part 24 and the fork-type connector part 34assume the positions indicated in FIG. 6. As shown, the lcontactportions 62 coact respectively with the centerrnost points of therounded surfaces e2, as indicated at 84 and, consequently, the datsurfaces 78 and S0 are spaced apart from the balance of the contactportions 62. As a result of this clearance between the surfaces 78 and80 and the contact porti-ons 62, misaligned terminals 12 and 14 may bemated without permanently deforming the tines 58 of the female terminal14.

If it -be assumed that the male terminal is improperly mounted to thesupport 16 so that it is turned by angle beta from its desired position,then the blade connector part 24 and fork-type connector part 34 assumethe positions illustrated in FIG. 7. As shown, the tines 58 are notspread apart because of the diverging relationship of the fiat surfaces78 and 8l) and the tines 58 are spaced apart the same amount as when themale and female terminals 12 and 14 are 90 degrees related to oneanother. With the above described construction, the angle beta may :beas great as six degrees and the tines 58 are not permanently distorted,whereas a misalignment of only three degrees with the prior artterminals effects the permanent deformation of the tines 5S. In anyevent, as shown in FIG. 7, the right contact portion 62 coacts with thelowermost point of the rounded surface 82 of the contacting side 70, asindicated at 86, while the left contact portion 62 coacts with theuppermost point of the rounded surface 82, as indicated at 88. On theother hand, if it be assumed that both the male terminal 12 and thefemale :terminal 14 are improperly mounted on their respective supports'16 and 26, for example, both are positioned at an angle equal to halfof Ibeta, -for example, three degrees from their desired positions, thenthe blade connector part 24 and the fork-type connector par-t 34 assumethe positions illustrated in FIG. 8. As seen, the tines 58 are spreadapart no more than when the -male and female terminals 12 and 14 wereproperly mounted to the supports 16 and 26 and, accordingly, the tines58 are not permanently deformed although the terminals 12 and 14 aremisaligned by six degrees.

To emphasize the advantage of the present invention,

an improperly mounted prior art male terminal and terminal similar tothe above-described female terminal 14 are illustrated in FIG. 9. It itbe assumed that the male terminal 96 is improperly mounted to itssupport such that it is located in a position displaced from its desiredposition by an angle beta, for example, six degrees, then the contactingportions 62 of the tines 58 are spread and deformed outwardly by adistance equal to D. The outward deformation of the tines 5S by adistance of D is adequate to effect a permanent deformation in the tinesv58. Thus, the deformed female terminal illustrated in FIG. 9 does notdevelop the desired or necessary retentive force when thereafter usedwith a properly mounted prior art male terminal. As a result, arelatively low Contact pressure is thereafter produced between theconnector parts of the properly mounted male terminal and the deformedfemale terminal.

It should be understood that within a six degree range of misalignment amale terminal embodying the features of the present invention uniformlyspreads the tines of the female terminal so that a substantially uniformretentive force is produced lby the female terminal. In this sense, the`blade-type terminal of the present invention functions similarly to apin type terminal which spreads the tines a uniform amount regardless ofits rotary position. Hence, by virtue of the rounded contact surfaces82, the desirable result of uniform spreading of the tines is achieved;this result, however, would not be achieved by a terminal havingconverging and intersecting planar surfaces (and no rounded surfaces 82)since the tines of the female terminal would be spread by progressivelylesser amounts for progressively greater amounts of misalignment of theterminals. This result obtains because the effective width of theterminal having no rounded surfaces decreases as the misalignmentincreases and,` therefore, the tines are not adequately spread toproduce the necessary retentive force-which is assured by the terminalof the present invention within a relatively wide range of misalignment.

-From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that a blade-typeterminal constructed in accordance with the present invention permitsmating of misaligned male and female terminals without effecting apermanent setting or deformation of the tines of the female terminal. Inthose installations in which a plurality of male terminal assemblies aresuccessively mated with one female assembly, it is extremely importantthat the female assembly provide good .electrical connections with eachof the subsequently mated male terminal assemblies, irrespective of thefact that the male or female terminals are slightly misaligned.

While the embodiment described herein is at present considered to bepreferred, it is understood that various modifications and improvementsmay be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claimsall such modifications and improvements as fall within the true spiritand scope of the invention.

What is desired to be claimed and secured by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A terminal for coacting with a female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally blade-likestructure having a pair of generally opposing sides, portions of each ofsaid opposed sides being adapted to engage said contact surfaces of saidfemale terminal, each of said sides including relatively inclinedsurfaces permitting `said portions to er1- gage said contact surfaceswithout permanently deforming said contact surfaces, irrespective ofWhether the terminals are properly aligned or slightly angularlymisaligned.

2. The terminal of claim 1 wherein each portion includes a transverselyextending, curved surface -for engaging said contact surface.

3. A terminal for coacting with a female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally blade-likestructure having a pair of generally opposing sides, portions of each ofsaid opposed sides being adapted to engage said contact surfaces of saidfemale terminal, each of said sides including nonarcnate surfacespermitting said portions to engage said contact surfaces withoutpermanently deforming said contact surfaces, irrespective of whether theterminals are properly aligned or slightly angularly misaligned.

4. A terminal for coactiny with a female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally :blade-likestructure having generally opposing, laterally spaced sides lforcoacting with said contact surfaces, each of said sides includingoutwardly extending irst portions for engaging said contact surfacesand, further, including second non-arcuate portions laterally spacedapart less than the Contact portions, said second portions beingconligured to permit said first portions to engage said contact surfaceswithout effecting permanent deformation of said contact surfaces,irrespective of whether the terminals are accurately aligned or slightlyangularly misaligned.

5. A terminal for coacting with a female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally blade-likestructure having generally opposing sides, eac-h of said Sides beinggenerally peaked outwardly -to coact with one of said contact surfaces,said generally peaked sides assuring good electrical contact `betweenthe terminals yet permitting limited angular terminal misalignmentwithout spreading and permanently deforming the contact surfaces.

6. A terminal for coacting with a `female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally blade-likestructure having a pair of generally opposed sides, each of said sidesincluding relatively inclined surfaces, each of Said relatively inclinedsurfaces including a portion engaging said contact surface of saidfemale terminal, whereby said inclined surfaces assure good electricalcontact between the portions and the contact surfaces withoutpermanently deforming the contact surfaces, irrespective of whether theterminals are correctly aligned or angulariy misaligned.

7. A terminal for mating with a female terminal having spaced-apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising an elongated blade having agenerally rectangular crosssection including oposite sides, each of saidsides including relatively inclined sections converging in atransversely extending, curved section, said curved sections beingengageable with said contact surfaces and being symmetrically located onsaid sides to permit mating of said terminals when angularly misalignedwithout permanently spreading the contact surfaces.

8. A terminal for coacting with a female terminal having spaced apartcontact surfaces, said terminal comprising a generally blade-likestructure having a pair of generally opposing sides, portions of each ofsaid opposing sides being adapted to engage said contact surfaces ofsaid female terminal, each of said sides lbeing constructed so as topermit said portions to engage said surfaces without permanentlydeforming said contact surfaces, irrespective of whether the terminalsare properly aligned or slightly angularly misaligned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.23,547 Fox Sept. 9, 1952 1,418,171 Raettig May 30, 1922 1,497,944Russell June 17, 1924 2,129,725 Alden Sept. 1.3, 1938 2,333,694 WarsherNov. 9, 1943 2,343,675 Kenyon Mar. 7, 1944 2,521,056 Frei et al. Sept.5, 2,554,876 Olson May 29, 1951 2,832,943 Cutler Apr. 29, 1958

